Airbnb vs Booking.com vs direct booking in India — what each one costs a homestay, and what it gives back
Airbnb takes about 15.5% of each booking from most hosts. Booking.com charges a commission set in each property’s agreement, billed monthly. A booking on your own website costs no commission. The apps bring strangers who have never heard of you; your own site keeps the money from guests who already have. Most homestays need both.
Key takeaway: treat the travel apps as paid advertising that only charges when it works, and treat your own booking site as the till. Use Airbnb or Booking.com (or both) to be discovered and to collect your first reviews. Send everyone who already knows your name (Google searches, Instagram followers, returning guests, their friends) to your own site, where you keep the whole price.
TL;DR
- • Airbnb: about 15.5% host-only fee for most hosts (October 2026), simple, strong for a new stay with no reviews.
- • Booking.com: a commission set in your agreement, invoiced monthly; paid visibility programmes cost more.
- • MakeMyTrip and Goibibo: commission by contract; read the price terms.
- • Direct: 0% commission, but you find the guests, collect the money and handle cancellations yourself.
- • The mix that works: apps for discovery, your own site for everyone who comes back or comes recommended.
Side by side
| Airbnb | Booking.com | Your own site (SitesPlaced) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it costs you | About 15.5% of each booking for most hosts on the host-only fee (14–16% for some), taken from your payout | A commission percentage on each booking, set in your agreement; paid visibility programmes add to it | 0% commission on SitesPlaced; free to publish, own domain from ₹199 a month |
| How the money reaches you | Airbnb takes the guest’s payment and pays you out | Depends on your setup; commission is invoiced each month for the previous month’s bookings | You collect it: at the property, or a deposit or full payment by UPI or bank transfer after you confirm |
| Who finds the guest | Airbnb, from people browsing its app and site | Booking.com, from people browsing its app and site | You: Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, past guests and word of mouth |
| Talking to the guest | Through Airbnb’s messages; strict rules on taking guests off Airbnb | Through Booking.com’s messages; its own terms apply | Directly, on the name and WhatsApp number from the booking |
| Calendar | Its own; can import and export calendar links, refreshed about every 3 hours | Its own; can import and export calendar links on its own timing | Its own; on SitesPlaced you add app bookings by hand (no automatic sync yet) |
| Best at | Getting a new stay its first guests and reviews | Reaching travellers who search for places to stay by date and town | Keeping the money from guests who already know your name |
Airbnb’s fee is as listed in its help centre in October 2026. Booking.com and MakeMyTrip rates differ by property and are set in each agreement, so we do not quote one. Always check your own account.
Airbnb: simple fee, big audience, strict rules
Airbnb has two fee models. Under the older split fee, the host paid about 3% and the guest paid a separate service fee at checkout; Airbnb says this is being phased out. Under the single host-only fee, which its help centre says is now mandatory for most hosts, the whole fee comes out of your payout: 15.5% for most hosts, between 14% and 16% for some. The guest then sees one price with no separate service fee. Your earnings page shows which model you are on.
What you get for it: people browsing Airbnb find you, Airbnb takes the payment and pays you out, and reviews build up on your listing. What you give up: control over the guest relationship. Airbnb’s rules, as listed in October 2026, say hosts may not offer discounts to book off Airbnb, rebook an Airbnb reservation elsewhere, or put links in listings or messages that take guests off Airbnb. For a new homestay with no reviews, Airbnb is often the quickest way to get the first guests through the door.
Booking.com: commission by agreement, extra for visibility
Booking.com does not publish one rate for everyone. When you register a property, the commission percentage is set in your agreement and you can see it in your Booking.com account. It is charged on each booking, and you are invoiced at the start of each month for the previous month’s reservations. Programmes that push your listing higher in search results cost extra commission points, and member discounts come out of your price. Read the terms of each one before switching it on.
A quick way to compare apps without guessing their rate: on a ₹12,000 stay, every 1% of commission is ₹120. So check the percentage in your own agreement and multiply. MakeMyTrip and Goibibo work the same way, with a commission set in your contract and promotions that can change what you effectively pay. In October 2022 the Competition Commission of India directed MakeMyTrip-Goibibo to drop price and room-availability parity terms from its hotel agreements; read the price terms in whichever contract you sign.
Direct booking: no commission, more of your own work
A direct booking happens on your own website, your WhatsApp or your phone. On a three-night stay at ₹4,000 a night, Airbnb’s 15.5% would be ₹1,860. On your own SitesPlaced site, the commission is ₹0, and a UPI transfer straight to your account usually costs nothing either.
The honest part: direct bookings are not free of effort. No app sends you traffic, so guests have to find you through Google, Instagram, WhatsApp or word of mouth. You collect the money yourself. On SitesPlaced you choose pay at the property, a deposit first, or full payment first, and you collect the deposit by UPI or bank transfer after confirming, because there is no online payment on the booking page yet. You also write and enforce your own cancellation policy. For a stay nobody has heard of, that is a slow start, which is why the apps still matter.
Where direct wins clearly is with guests who already know you. A returning family, a friend of last month’s guest, someone who saw your reel: none of them needs an app to find you, so there is no reason to pay one. The playbook for getting them to book direct is in how to get direct bookings for your homestay.
How to mix them
- 1. Start with one or two apps. List on Airbnb or Booking.com to get your first guests and reviews. Write a full listing with real photos; it is the first impression most strangers get.
- 2. Build your own site at the same time. Put it in your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio and your WhatsApp quick replies, so everyone who already knows your name books there.
- 3. Keep prices fair. Never price your own site above the apps. Win direct guests with a perk instead, after reading your app agreements.
- 4. Keep one calendar as the truth. Every booking from every app, phone call and walk-in goes there first. See how to avoid double bookings.
- 5. Measure what you keep. Once a season, add up what each source paid you per night after fees and cancellations, and shift effort to the one that pays best.
Our verdict
Airbnb and Booking.com are worth their fees when they bring you a guest you could not have found yourself, especially in your first season. They are not worth it for a guest who already knows your name. That guest should book on your own site.
SitesPlaced is the simplest way to have that site: the Homestay & Stays template with rooms, photos, a price calendar, the total with GST before the button, request-to-book or instant booking, and a dashboard for today’s arrivals, the calendar and payments. It is free to publish with 0% commission on every booking, and your own domain is from ₹199 a month. Have a look at the live demo or read about the direct booking website and free booking engine.
Frequently asked questions
Is Airbnb or Booking.com better for a homestay in India?
Neither wins everywhere. Airbnb’s cost is easy to see: most hosts pay a 15.5% host-only fee, as listed in its help centre in October 2026. Booking.com’s commission is set in each property’s agreement, so compare the actual rate you are offered. Many homestays list on both for a season, then compare what they kept per night after fees, cancellations and effort, and keep the one that pays better.
How much commission does Booking.com charge in India?
Booking.com does not publish one rate for every property. The commission percentage is set in your agreement when you sign up and shown in your Booking.com account, it is charged on each booking, and it is invoiced monthly for the previous month’s reservations. Paid visibility programmes add to it. Check the exact figure in your own agreement before you compare it with other apps.
Which is better — Airbnb or SitesPlaced?
They do different jobs. Airbnb finds you guests who have never heard of you, and charges about 15.5% of the booking for most hosts. SitesPlaced gives you your own homestay website with a booking engine, free and with 0% commission, for guests who already know you or find you on Google, Instagram or WhatsApp. Most homestays are better off using both: Airbnb for discovery, SitesPlaced to keep the money from every guest who comes to you directly.
Is a direct booking cheaper for the guest?
Only if you make it so. On Airbnb’s host-only fee the guest does not see a separate service fee, so the app price and your own price can look the same. The guest usually chooses direct when your site is never dearer and offers something extra, such as breakfast included, a free pickup or a late check-out. Read your app agreements before setting a lower direct price.
Can I list on Airbnb, Booking.com and my own website at the same time?
Yes, and most homestays do. The risk is selling the same night twice, because each app keeps its own calendar and calendar links only refresh every few hours. Keep one calendar as the truth and enter every booking there first. On SitesPlaced each room-night can only be sold once, and you add Airbnb, Booking.com or phone bookings by hand, since there is no automatic sync yet.
What does MakeMyTrip or Goibibo charge a homestay?
Like Booking.com, they charge a commission on each booking that is set in your contract, and promotions can change what you effectively pay. Read the rate and any price-matching terms in your agreement. In October 2022 the Competition Commission of India directed MakeMyTrip-Goibibo to drop price and room-availability parity terms from its hotel agreements.
Keep the whole price on direct bookings
Your own homestay website with a booking engine, free to publish, with 0% commission. Keep the apps for discovery; send everyone who knows your name here.
